National Personal Trainer Awareness Day is observed every year on January second with a day to honor the experts who assist us with keeping our goals high. 

As the new year begins, one of the most popular resolutions of every year is getting fit, and hence comes the popular demand for personal training comes for the rescue. Their tasks are not exclusively to inspire us, yet to ensure we figure out how to function our bodies securely. As much as lack of motivation keeps us from our goals, the inappropriate use of equipment can lead to injuries which again can become a reason for getting demotivated. 

So we have for you an exclusive series about the Best Personal Trainers sharing their views on fitness and health.

Ishani Pimpalkhare, Yoga Instructor, is a designer by passion and she has 10+ years of experience in the creative field. 

Everything should be in balance

Ishani shares her thoughts, “Fitness of body and mind should be a constant goal and one should take a holistic approach towards it like in yoga - body, mind, and breath, everything should be in balance. And for this ‘daily practice’ is the key in my opinion. Once you practice daily, you get to know your body well; you know what works for you what doesn't work for you and once you are into that routine, then there are a lot of benefits for your health as the regular practice increases your metabolism, makes your body disease-free, increases your confidence and improves your concentration. Also, it should not be only about visual fitness, like we should not only look fit but also in your mind, and your everyday activities, you should be fit and healthy,” she says.

There's no shortcut to anything

Ishani sheds light on the subject of quick results, “There's no shortcut to anything worth achieving, and especially something as important as your health. So instant workouts and extreme diets will give you a short term benefit, but in the long run, they will damage more. For example, if you aim to reduce 5 kg or 10 kgs, you didn’t put all that weight in 1 week so how can you expect to lose it so soon? You put them probably over a time. So it should be a very balanced approach of exercise, diet, and a positive focus attitude. It so happens that people who are actually more flexible, try pushing themselves more, and eventually there could be long term damage, like a ligament tear. So you just have to be very careful, aware, and mindful of what you're doing. And like yoga prescribes everything should be done in moderation. Hence, I would suggest to do everything in moderation and gradually achieve your goal,” she says.

Need to be aware when looking out for a trainer

Ishani explains, “It's a scary fact that there's no particular measure to separate the authentic from the unauthentic. But you need to be aware when looking out for a teacher or a trainer; they should have feedbacks and reviews. Thanks to social and digital media, everything is available. Even the organizations which are hiring Fitness Trainers or yoga teachers have to be very careful and understand if they are trained or not by taking some sample classes,” she says.

Be Careful while doing asanas during online classes
Ishani shares her views on digital consultations, “I personally take online Yoga pranayam asana classes. I would definitely prefer our physical presence like face to face. But if you see a lot of videos on yoga, aerobics, Zumba, and all have been there via videos. So there is a yoga practice that is happening digitally because you don't have a choice. So one should be careful while teaching and the person should take care to do the asanas properly to avoid injury,” she says.

(Edited by Rabia Mistry Mulla)